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£600,000 for bypass death

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Balfour Beatty has been fined £600,000 following the death of an employee on the Aberdeen bypass project.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that between January 4-13 2016 Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd failed to ensure that the safe system of work for refuelling all plant and equipment was fully implemented at the site of the Third Don Crossing. As a consequence, 58-year-old Ian Walker was struck by a wheeled excavator that was slewing after being refuelled.

Investigations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that refuelling of plant was identified as a high-risk activity by the contractor who had created a briefing document detailing a safe system of work and had risk-assessed the activity. The HSE said: “However, it is evident that although these procedures existed in documentary format the safe system of work and its control measures had not been fully implemented at the construction site.”

HSE principal inspector, Niall Miller said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the civil engineering company to implement safe systems of work, and to ensure that health and safety documentation was communicated and control measures followed.”

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The final section of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route opened last week.

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